source: trunk/README @ 366

This is the README of the PKCS #11 PAM Login Module
======================================================================

Release: 0.6.1
Authors:  Mario Strasser <mast@gmx.net>
          Juan Antonio Martinez <jonsito@teleline.es>
          Ludovic Rouseau <ludovic.rousseau@free.fr>

This Linux-PAM login module allows a X.509 certificate based user
login. The certificate and its dedicated private key are thereby
accessed by means of an appropriate PKCS #11 module. For the
verification of the users' certificates, locally stored CA
certificates as well as either online or locally accessible CRLs are
used.

Detailed information about the Linux-PAM system can be found in [1],
[2] and [3]. The specification of the Cryptographic Token Interface
Standard (PKCS #11) is available at [4].


PKCS #11 Module Requirements
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The PKCS #11 modules must fullfill the requirements given by the RSA
Asymmetric Client Signing Profile, which has been specified in the
PKCS #11 Conformance Profile Specification [5] by RSA Laboratories.


User Matching
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To approve the ownership of a certificate, that is to allow the owner
of a certificate to login as a particular user Several modules
are provided. See README.mappers file in doc directory

[Note: This is still a work in progress, any suggestions for
       improvements or alternative matching algorithms are welcome.]


Installation
----------------------------------------------------------------------

bash# tar xvzf pam_pkcs11-X.Y.Z.tar.gz
bash# cd pam_pkcs11-X.Y.Z
bash# ./configure
bash# make
bash# sudo make install


Configuration

1- Create a directory /etc/pam_pkcs11
2- Copy $(base)/etc/pam_pkcs11.conf.example to /etc/pam_pkcs11/ and personalize
3- Create crls and cacerts directories according with configuration file,
   and fill them with proper data
4- Choose one or more mappers to install, set up configuration file, and
   if needed configure mappers

The file etc/pam_pkcs11.conf is fully auto-documented, to allow you easy
editing

5- setup /etc/pam.d/xxx entries

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To make use of the PKCS #11 login module replace the line

  auth  requisite       pam_unix2.so    ...

with

  auth  requisite       pam_pkcs11.so   ...

in the pam configuration files.

Some mappers doesn't map to an existing user. To allow correct login,
you may need to install also pam-mkhomedir in session pam stack
See http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam for details

The following options are recognised for pam-pkcs11.so:

  debug       
    Enable debugging support.

  config_file
    To specify up configuration file ( default /etc/pam_pkcs11/pam_pkcs11.conf )

Next options should be taken from configuration file, but is up to the
user to specify them from command line. If so, it takes precedence over
configuration file

  nullok      
    Allow empty passwords.

  use_first_pass
    Do not prompt the user for the passwords but take them from the
    PAM_ items instead.

  try_first_pass
    Do not prompt the user for the passwords unless PAM_(OLD)AUTHTOK
    is unset.

  use_authtok
    Like try_first_pass, but fail if the new PAM_AUTHTOK has not been
    previously set (intended for stacking password modules only).

Next options are pkcs11 module specific

  pkcs11_module=<file>
    Filename of the PKCS #11 module. The default value is
    /etc/pam_pkcs11/pkcs11_module.so.
    Note that this option takes precedence over "module" entry
    in proper pkcs11_module section, but this section is still needed

  slot_num=<nr>
    Slot-number to use. One for the first, two for the second and so
    on. The default value is zero which means to use the first slot
    with an available token.

  ca_dir=<path>
    Path to the directory where the CA certificates are stored. The
    directory must contain an openssl hash-link to each certificate.
    The default value is /etc/pam_pkcs11/cacerts.

  crl_dir=<path>
    Path to the directory where the CRLs are stored. The directory
    must contain an openssl hash-link to each CRL. The default value
    is /etc/pam_pkcs11/crls.

  crl_policy={none, online, offline, auto}
    Sets the CRL verification policy. None performs no verification
    at all, online downloads the CRL form the location given by the
    CRL distribution point extension of the certificate and offline
    uses the locally stored CRLs. Auto is a combination of online and
    offline; it first tries to download the CRL from a possibly
    given CRL distribution point and if this fails, uses the local
    CRLs. The default setting is none.

Example:

  auth  sufficient  pam_pkcs11.so   config_file=/etc/pam_pkcs11/pam_pkcs11.conf

  or ( avoid if possible )

  auth  sufficient pam_pkcs11.so        nullok debug try_first_pass \
    pkcs11_module=/usr/lib/pkcs11/pkcs11_module.so \
    ca_dir=/etc/cacerts/ crl_dir=/etc/cacerts/ crl_policy=auto


Contact
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Any comments, suggestions and bug reports are welcome. Please, mention
the keywords 'pkcs' and 'pam' in the subject.

Mario Strasser <mast@gmx.net>
Juan Antonio Martinez <jonsito@teleline.es>


References
----------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] The Linux-PAM System Administrators' Guide
    http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/Linux-PAM-html/pam.html

[2] The Linux-PAM Module Writers' Guide
    http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/Linux-PAM-html/pam_modules.html

[3] The Linux-PAM Application Developers' Guide
    http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/Linux-PAM-html/pam_appl.html

[4] PKCS #11 - Cryptographic Token Interface Standard
    http://www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/pkcs/pkcs-11/

[5] PKCS #11: Conformance Profile Specification
    http://www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/pkcs/pkcs-11/